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					<h1><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular">Introduction</font>
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						<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Overvie-36293" name="Anchor-Overvie-36293"></a>Overview</font></h3>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When launched <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> pops up a single window with a green game board similar to the one shown below. If you launch it for the very first time the tiles on the  board will be of medium size. You can <a href="#Anchor-Settin-1140">adjust</a> their size later if you chose to do so. There are three menu items in the main menu bar: <a href="#Anchor-Controllin-36635">Game</a>, <a href="tiles.html#Anchor-Probabilit-23564">Tools</a> and <a href="#Anchor-Gettin-63420">Help</a>. Items in the Game menu are used to control, load and save games. The <a href="#Anchor-Th-39808">status bar</a> on the bottom displays information on the status of the game. To exit the game press Ctrl+Q at any time.</font></p>
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						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="screenshot-full.png" alt="" border="0"><br>
								<font size="-1"><i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> main window at start up on Mac OS X.</font></font></p>
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						<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Controllin-36635" name="Anchor-Controllin-36635"></a>Game Controls</font></h3>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">All game controlling commands are accessible through the <i>Game</i> menu in the main menu bar shown below. The most commonly used items have accelerator keys as well. Try to get used to them since they allow for easier and quicker control of the game.</font></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Note for Mac OS users: Mac OS X arranges the menues differently. The 'Preferences' and 'Exit' items are listed under the Application Menu ('SolitaireMahjong'). On all other platforms they in the 'Games' menu.</em></font></p>
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						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="screenshot-game.png" alt="" border="0"><br>
								<font size="-1">The Game menu.</font></font></p>
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							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Ne-29431" name="Anchor-Ne-29431"></a><b>New Game:</b> Starts a <i>new</i> game. The layout of the new game depends on the preferences you have set in the Setting dialog window. The command can be activated anytime.</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Ope-64383" name="Anchor-Ope-64383"></a><b>Open:</b> Loads and starts a game stored on file. The extension for these files is <i>.smj</i>, other extensions are not recognized. </font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Repla-64301" name="Anchor-Repla-64301"></a><b>Replay:</b> Starts the <i>same</i> game again, that is a new game but with the identical layout as the previous one. Gets activated after you removed at least one tile.</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Hin-38907" name="Anchor-Hin-38907"></a><b>Hint:</b> Hints the next move. Note that <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> will provide the next available move without taking any strategy into account. The number of hints used in the ongoing game is displayed on the right in the <a href="#Anchor-Th-39808">status bar</a> on the bottom of the main window. The Hint command will highlight the two tiles that can be removed next. There are a few options that relate to this command (see <a href="#Anchor-Settin-1140">Setting Preferences</a> for more).</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Und-16974" name="Anchor-Und-16974"></a><b>Undo:</b> Take back the previous move. The number of <i>undo</i>s used in the current game is displayed in the right most field in the <a href="#Anchor-Th-39808">status bar</a>, right of the '/'. The number of <i>undo</i>s is not limited. In principle you can undo every move you made in the current game back to the start position (although replay would be much faster for that).</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Sav-23059" name="Anchor-Sav-23059"></a><b>Save:</b> Save the current game on file. The file must have the extension .<i>smj</i> to be used in <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> again. See <a href="#Anchor-Storin-51509">Storing and Opening Games on File</a> for more.</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Hig-50293" name="Anchor-Hig-50293"></a><b>High Scores:</b> Pops up the high score list. See <a href="#Anchor-Th-16572">The High Score List</a> for more.</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Played Tiles:</strong> Pops up a viewer displaying the tiles already removed. See <a href="#Anchor-Viewing-49575">Viewing Tiles Already Played</a> for more.</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Preference-293" name="Anchor-Preference-293"></a><b>Preferences:</b> Pops up a dialog window that allows you to customize <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> and set various features. See <a href="#Anchor-Settin-1140">Setting Preferences</a> for more.</font>
							<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Exi-8959" name="Anchor-Exi-8959"></a><b>Exit:</b> Exit the game.</font>
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						<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Playin-64043" name="Anchor-Playin-64043"></a>Playing the Game</font></h3>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You select a tile by clicking on it with the mouse. If the tile is selectable according to the <a href="rules.html">rules</a> the tile is highlighted as shown below.</font></p>
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						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="Bamboo_1_normal.png" alt="" border="0"><img src="Bamboo_1_highlighted.png" alt="" border="0"> <font size="-1">Left: normal tile, right selected highlighted tile.</font></font></p>
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						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">If two matching ones are selected you can remove the pair by either right-clicking your mouse (if your mouse has at least 2 buttons) or double-clicking one of the selected tiles. To de-select a selected (highlighted) tile simply click on it again. There can never more than two tiles selected. </font></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">If one item is selected and you select another non-matching tile, the former gets automatically de-selected.</font></p>
						<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Th-39808" name="Anchor-Th-39808"></a>The Status Bar</font></h3>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The status bar located on the bottom of the main window is always present. </font></p>
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										<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="-1">The status bar on the bottom of the main window. Left: number of remaining tiles.<br>
											</font></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="-1">Middle: message window. Right: number of hints/number of undos used so far.</font></font></div>
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						<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The small left-most field displays the number of tiles currently in the game, that is those that you still have to remove. The long field in the middle is the message window. Depending on your settings (see below) more or less information is displayed. The little field on the right displays two numbers separated by a slash '/': on the left the number of times the <a href="#Anchor-Hin-38907">Hint</a> command was used and on the right the number of times the <a href="#Anchor-Und-16974">Undo</a> command was used.</font></p>
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							<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Settin-1140" name="Anchor-Settin-1140"></a>Setting Preferences</font></h3>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The preference window allows you to customize the appearance and behavior of <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i>. To popup the dialog window use the <a href="#Anchor-Preference-293">Preferences</a> command from the <a href="#Anchor-Controllin-36635">Game menu</a> in the main menu bar. The new settings are kept when you exit the dialog by pressing the <i>OK</i> button. <i>Cancel</i> will quit the dialog without applying any changes, that is the previous state is restored. When you <a href="#Anchor-Exi-8959">exit</a> <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> the current settings are stored and loaded again when you restart the game. Where they are stored depends on the system. On Unix systems they are stored in a hidden text file in your home directory, on Windows they are stored in the registry, and on the Mac they are handled by the Carbon preferences API. </font></p>
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							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="screenshot-settings.png" alt="" border="0"><br>
									<font size="-1">Preference window used to set various features.</font></font></p>
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						<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The upper two combo boxes are not enabled at the moment. In future releases the will allow to select various <a href="tiles.html#Anchor-Mahjon-64307">tile layouts</a> and <a href="tiles.html#Anchor-Mahjon-12676">tile sets</a>. For now you have to live with the classic <i>Turtle</i> layout and the <i>Classic</i> tile set.</font>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Tile Size:</b> The combo box lets you select 4 different tile sizes: small (45x55 pixel), medium (57x70), large (69x85), and very large (82x100). Pick the one that is most suitable for your screen and resolution. Note that the newly selected tile size is not applied immediately but only when a <a href="#Anchor-Ne-29431">new game</a> is started. The preview window in the upper left depicts the selected tile size.</font></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Background Color:</b> The combo box allows you to either select a new background color for the game board or to restore the default color (medium green). When you select <i>New</i> a modal color dialog pops up, that lets you choose a color. The newly selected color is shown in the preview window in the upper left. Note that the newly selected background color is not applied immediately but only when a <a href="#Anchor-Ne-29431">new game</a> is started.</font></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Check Boxes: </b></font></p>
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							<dt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Show name of selected tile in status bar</font>
							<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When checked the name of the <a href="tiles.html">tile</a> (e.g. 'Wheel 3') is displayed in the <a href="#Anchor-Th-39808">status bar</a>. For Season and Flower tiles you are also reminded that the selected tile matches any other Flower (Season) tile. This option is useful for beginners. If it annoys you uncheck the box.</font>
							<dt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sound bell when tile is not selectable</font>
							<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When checked the system bell sounds anytime you click a tile that cannot be selected. Only useful for beginners.</font>
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							<dt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hint is selected randomly from a list of all possible matches</font>
							<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">If unchecked the <a href="#Anchor-Hin-38907">Hint</a> command will return the first available match. Repeated use in the same situation will always yield the same hint. If checked, however, the next possible move is selected randomly from the list of all possible moves (matches). Repeated use in the same situation will yield different hints, unless of course there is only one match possible, or the random generator happens to pick the same hint again. This is a way to scan through several alternatives and decide which is the optimal move. See also next preference.</font>
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							<dt><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hint command also reports number of possible matches</font>
							<dd><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">If checked the <a href="#Anchor-Hin-38907">Hint</a> command will also print a message in the <a href="#Anchor-Th-39808">status bar</a> telling you how many matching tile pairs are left, that is how many alternative moves you can perform. </font>
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						<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Gettin-63420" name="Anchor-Gettin-63420"></a>Getting Help</font></h3>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The<i> Contents </i>item in the <i>Help</i> menu pops up a help browser with the complete <i>Solitaire Mahjong</i> documentation (the one you are viewing right now). <i>About Solitaire Mahjong</i> shows you the usual version, copyright, and license information.</font></p>
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							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="screenshot-help.png" alt="" border="0"><br>
									<font size="-1">Help menu.</font></font></p>
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								<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Note for Mac OS users: Mac OS X arranges the menues differently. The 'About Solitaire Mahjong' item is listed as first item in the Application Menu ('SolitaireMahjong'). On all other platforms it is in the 'Help' menu.</em></font></p>
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							<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-En-62647" name="Anchor-En-62647"></a>End of the Game</font></h3>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">An ongoing game is finished when either all tiles were removed from the game board or no more matching tile pairs are left. </font></p>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You can either start a <a href="#Anchor-Ne-29431">new game</a> or <a href="#Anchor-Repla-64301">replay</a> the game you just played. meaning the tiles are layout as in the previous game. In both cases all tile, hint, and undo <a href="#Anchor-Th-39808">counters</a> are reset to zero. </font></p>
							<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Th-16572" name="Anchor-Th-16572"></a>The High Score List</font></h3>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Every time a game is finished the result is analyzed in terms of:</font></p>
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								<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">tiles left on the board</font>
								<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">number of <a href="#Anchor-Hin-38907">hint<i>s</i></a> used</font>
								<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">number of <a href="#Anchor-Und-16974">undo<i>s</i></a> used</font>
								<li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">the total time played</font>
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							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Less is better. The score is judged according to the order of the criteria shown above. The high score list stores the best 10 results.</font></p>
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							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="screenshot-highscores.png" alt="" border="0"><br>
									<font size="-1">The high score list (entries shown are not realistic and for illustration only).</font></font></p>
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							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When a new high score is generated the high score list shown above will pop up at the end of the game. The current score is listed in red. The second column shows the rank, the third column the date and time the game was played. What follows are the tiles left on the board, the number of hints and undos used. The last column shows the total time (mm:ss) needed for the game. </font></p>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The <i>Clear List</i> button will delete the high score list. This cannot be undone.</font></p>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The high score list can be inspected any time using the <a href="#Anchor-Hig-50293">High Scores</a> command in the <a href="#Anchor-Controllin-36635">Game</a> menu. The list is stored together with your preferences. Note that a check sum is generated to check the <i>validity</i> of the high score list.</font></p>
							<h3><a name="Anchor-Viewing-49575" id="Anchor-Viewing-49575"></a><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Viewing Tiles Already Played</font></h3>
							<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">At times it is useful to recall what tiles where played already. By default the &quot;Played Tiles&quot; viewer shows the already played tiles in pairs (as removed) and in chronological order, last one always on top. Alternatively (select checkbox &quot;Sorted&quot;) it displays the tiles sorted according to matching type. Use this to find out if you already played all 4 tiles of a subset.</font></p>
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						<p><img src="screenshot-played.png" alt="" height="649" width="449" border="0"></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="-1">The Played Tiles list, here in sorted view mode.</font></font></p>
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						<h3><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a id="Anchor-Storin-51509" name="Anchor-Storin-51509"></a>Opening and Storing Games on File</font></h3>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A game can be saved to file at any time using the <i><a href="#Anchor-Sav-23059">Save</a></i> command in the <i>Game</i> menu. The file has to have the extension <i>.smj</i>. If not provided, Solitaire Mahjong will append it. </font></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Note that the original setup gets saved independently of how far you are in the game. You can even save the game when it is finished. The status of the game (tiles removed, history, etc.) is not stored. All what is currently stored is layout, tileset, date created and original setup. The files are simple text files and can be easily ported between platforms.</font></p>
						<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Games can be loaded at any time using the <i><a href="#Anchor-Ope-64383">Open</a></i> command under the <i>Game</i> menu. The current game will be discarded.</font></p>
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